OTTI 15 MountainTea, Range of Taiwan Oolong

Chip wrote:OTTI vendors rely on sales of their teas for their livelihoods, and I feel we need to be responsible when we find something drastically wrong to ask questions before posting.

Wait a minute

Now I know this is simply one of those "much ado about nothing if we were talking in person" kind of things. However,

Remick wrote: there was an aroma coming off of the wet leaves that didn't work for me

Remick wrote:Maybe it smells like different things to different people. Didn't do a thing for me.

How much more can I say, "to my nose and brain, I get the same olfactory response from the wet leaves as..."

If I had said, "my sample was apparently doused in insecticide because it totally sucks!" Well that would totally warrant a because I would be trolling. If that is what it seems like I'm saying, then by all means, I'll remove the whole paragraph. Granted, the same thing was said about the Dong Ding

Gregg wrote: At first there is the spice, it’s a bit much, I find this in several DD, and an aged oolong I just bought from Floating Leaves, kind of a Raid taste.

Chip wrote:I personally have never tasted Raid, and I hopefully never will.

TBH, I somehow missed the first Raid comment by Gregg ... likely when I was again dealing with a family medical ... thingy.

Oolong OTTI has been an eye opening experience.

Again, never meant actual "TASTE".

As far as the comment by Gregg, I wasn't trying to call or single him out. Honestly. However, the comment was probably what allowed my brain to make the association. Which in my opinion, isn't a grievous thing. Perhaps I could have said camphor or some other very strong non-food related smell. I will try to temper my associations and parallels going forward.

Just in case MountainTea is reading, I want to thank your company for participating in this OTTI. It has been an excellent opportunity to expand my palate and appreciation for Taiwanese oolong. Chip, a big "thank you" to you as well.

So Chip... when do we get to read your reviews and price adjusted scores

- extremely helpful and illuminating. Armed with this information before the tea arrives, I know what to look for AND how best to achieve it.

If your main concern centers on influencing the tasting with your bias or preferences, then I suggest withholding the numerical scores or any ranking until a later point in the thread. In other words, a road map for the tea journey, minus the "Yelp!" component.

Edited to add - Regardless of what you write, your opinions (on tea ) would be welcomed. The sooner the better IMHO.

Chip wrote:However clearly the complex Imperial Pearl which is a worthy award winner is not like bug repellent.

That is probably true, but I have never had a NATC winner that has been more than mediocre and have had quite a few that were pretty terrible. Some have had extremely bad off flavors. Not having tasted the tea, I don't think its impossible that it tasted like insect repellent and I certainly don't think Gregg and Remick made it up. If people can't even mention the worst flaws of a tea what is the point of a review?

If you read my full post, it is mainly concerned with when something is drastically wrong ... such as if a tea tasted like raid. Also regarding a possible isolated sample contamination. Also regarding posting responsibly in order to be fair to OTTI vendors. And also when we get an odd olfactory/taste memory response.

I felt I explained myself pretty well, but in order to clarify, I am creating a new topic on this subject which I had actually started weeks ago.

Botton line. These teas do not taste like Raid. Or perhaps all the participants who liked the Imperial Pearl for instance, must like the taste of Raid, myself included (after the above post I broke out IP and did a 2:1 ratio tasting ... it was outstanding).

May the memory of Iannon live long in the hearts and souls of those who called him friend.

Chip wrote:If you read my full post, it is mainly concerned with when something is drastically wrong ... such as if a tea tasted like raid.

Chip wrote:Bottom line. These teas do not taste like Raid.

Well this is good... I agree with you.

Remick wrote:there was an aromacoming off of the wet leaves that didn't work for me

Remick wrote:How much more can I say, "to my nose and brain, I get the same olfactory response from the wet leaves as..."

The taste of the tea liquor--or result of the infusion process--was fine. Up until infusion two, Imperial pearl was really nice. After pushing the leaves past the third infusion, the leaves would display an unpleasant, dare I say inorganic smell, to ME!.

Now here is where actual taste does come in to play.

Note: I did not mention this in my original post.

Scenario: Cold overnight infusion of leaves that had been used for 5-6 hot brews. The smell became a flavor. I did not enjoy this flavor a felt it was distracting from an enjoyable tea.

I have not experienced this drastic of a change in a tea past the third infusion. Two nice infusions giving way to three not-as-pleasant hot infusions plus one less than pleasant cold infusion. For all this, I did not give a score. I was respectful enough to MountainTea to allow for the possibility that the ONLY problem was, in fact, me!

BTW, usually Taiwan leaves that have been steeped a few times are NOT appealing in aroma to me, and it always mystified me how the brew came out great while the leaves smelled over ... cooked.

HOWEVER, when I pour the liquor into a fair cup and pour the brew into cups and then smell the fair cup ... the aroma is fantastic for most Taiwan oolong including both the DD and the IP ... I want to just park my sniffer in the fair cup and not share . For me this is a highlight of Taiwan oolongs!!!

BTW, I just got through 6 steeps of the Dong Ding also brewed at 2:1 ratio. TBH, I have had a lot of issues with DD over the last 5 years, but this one is hitting the spot nicely. I will be posting more reviews soon, but since this was one tea discussed, I felt I wanted to do a session.

My first impression of the Imperial Pearl was excellent, with the first infusion being a little thin but wonderful plummy fruitiness, and then the next couple of infusions developed an unpleasantness with the timings I was using for the other teas in a single comparative tasting of all six. I stopped on it then, and tried it again later with more individualized timings, and confirmed, as expected, that the fault was not in the tea, but in my infusions. After two more sessions with it, I did add it to my first order from the company.

It did require a delicate hand to keep the best qualities forwards, but while the poorly timed infusions were not particularly enjoyable, they were nothing like an industrial chemical unpleasantness.

I am not good at tea reviews, so sorry I have stayed silent through this OTTI. But I wanted to share some impressions.

I enjoyed all these teas, the Imperial Pearl and Spring Lishan being the ones that stood out as my favorites.

I made an order pretty quickly for these two. I then realized I really needed some roasted ones as well, and ordered the Special Reserve Dong Ding, as well as various other small amounts to have some more tastings.

My dealings with the vendor have been great. The packaging is well done and shipped quickly. I had a very small error on my second order, and my email was replied to withing an hour or 2. The replacement was shipped out expedited, and I had a very nice note from Chicco in the package thanking me for my business. Great service like this can be just as important as the tea when finding a new company to deal with.

Thank you Chip again for sponsoring events like this. And also thanks to all of you for sharing your impressions as it helps me learn about the tea's as I drink along with you.

laura99 wrote:My dealings with the vendor have been great. The packaging is well done and shipped quickly. I had a very small error on my second order, and my email was replied to withing an hour or 2. The replacement was shipped out expedited, and I had a very nice note from Chicco in the package thanking me for my business. Great service like this can be just as important as the tea when finding a new company to deal with.

Thanks for the info. Yes, I fully agree that customer service is just as important as the quality of the tea when choosing / dealing with a tea co. I have read glowing accounts elsewhere about this vendor's customer service, which increases the chances that I will order from them in future.

I would have to add my own kudos to Mountain Tea's customer service--I placed an order for their Imperial Pearl, and not only did it arrive quickly, but they noticed that it had not been sent priority shipping but regular, and offered to refund the shipping costs or credit the difference. I never would have noticed it, honestly, if they hadn't pointed it out, so it really speaks well to their honesty and attention to their customers!